Falcons Take Game One Of The WCHA Semifinals In 6-1 Victory Over NMU

Friday, March 15

Marquette, Mich.

7:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

24-9-5, 16-8-4-3

Northern Michigan

21-15-2, 18-8-2-0

Bowling Green

Northern Michigan

Falcons Take Game One Of The WCHA Semifinals In 6-1 Victory Over NMU

March 15, 2019 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: By Kellan Godfrey, BGSU Athletic Communications

MARQUETTE, Mich. – The No. 3 seeded Bowling Green State University hockey team defeated No. 2 seeded Northern Michigan University in game one of the WCHA Semifinals on Friday (March 15) night by a final score of 6-1. The Falcons scored six times on 42 shots on goal. Bowling Green traded power play opportunities with the Wildcats through the first period before getting two past NMU netminder Atte Tolvanen in the second period. The Falcons would proceed to score four more in the third period including two power play goals to start the final 20 minutes. Max Johnson tallied four points for the second straight game as BGSU collected win number 24 of the season, the most since the 1995-96 season. The Falcons and Wildcats will face-off for game two of this best-of-three semifinal on Saturday (March 16) night. Puck drop will be at 7:07 PM in the Berry Events Center in Marquette, Mich.

Box Score (PDF)

Scoring Plays

At 1:35 into the second period, Max Johnson would get the Falcons on the board first as he would score one from right in the slot. Frederic Letourneau would tally an assist on the play.
Adam Smith would tally his second goal in as many games not long after at 5:42 into the second period. Smith would be assisted by Connor Ford and Frederic Letourneau (his second).
Just 30 seconds into the third period, Brandon Kruse would bang in a power play goal for Bowling Green on a five-on-three opportunity. Alec Rauahuser and Max Johnson would assist him on the play.
Connor Ford would tally another power play goal extending BGSU's lead to 4-0 early in the third, 1:23. Alec Rauahuser and Max Johnson would get the assists on this goal as well.
NMU would score their only goal of the night as Griffin Loughran scored 8:55 into the third period. Troy Loggins and Adam Rockwood would pick up assists.
Max Johnson would score his second of the night at 11:12 into the third period. Brandon Kruse and Connor McDonald would assist him on the play.
With just six second left to play in the game, Cameron Wright would slip one more past Tolvanen, netting the final score. Alex Barber and Casey Linkenheld would pick up assists.

Other Key Plays

Bowling Green and Northern Michigan would battle to a scoreless first period that saw each team trade several power play opportunities.
As the second period expired, Northern Michigan would pick up a five minute major and game misconduct. They would also pick up a tripping minor as the period was expiring. Both penalties would carry into the third period of play. The Falcons would take full advantage scoring two power play goals to begin the third period.

Falcon Stat Facts

Friday (March 15) night's win was number 24 for Bowling Green on the 2018-19 season bringing their record to a total of 24-9-5. This is the most wins the Bowling Green hockey program has achieved in a single season since the 1995-96 season (26 under former Head Coach Buddy Powers), and the most wins under current Head Coach Chris Bergeron. The Falcons are on a four game winning streak.
Sophomore forward Max Johnson led the Falcons attack again this evening (March 15) as he tallied four points for the second straight game. Johnson scored two goals while recording two assists. Max Johnson has scored 12 points for Bowling Green over their four game winning streak, and has recorded multi-point game number 11 on the season (18 in his career).
Senior defenseman Adam Smith scored in his second straight game, extending his point streak to four games in a row. He has three goals this season.
Brandon Kruse tallied two points in the victory on a goal and an assist. He extends his point streak to four straight games as his career points climb to 73 total.
Connor Ford scored a goal and had an assist in Friday's (March 15) win extending his point streak to four games in a row. Ford has tallied seven points over the Falcons' winning streak.
Bowling Green has scored six or more wins for the third time over this four game winning streak. Five different Falcons tallied multiple points in the performance including Brandon Kruse for a team leading 12th time. He was joined by Max Johnson (11), Connor Ford (9), Alec Rauhauser (7) and Frederic Letourneau (3).

Coach Bergeron's Take

"I thought we played a good game from the beginning, our start was really good. We had a bunch of guys involved. If I had to change one thing, we took three penalties in the first ten minutes of the first period, but we killed them. What changed was a puck went in their net, and once that happened I thought it got us going even more. Obviously the power play got us off to a great start in the third there scoring bang-bang. I was happy with our effort from start to finish, and I thought it was a good night for us."
On Max Johnson's play as of late, 'He's a guy that's been on the scoresheet, and when he's on the scoresheet he's at his best. And whether its five-on-five or five-on-four he's a guy we need contributing, and he's definitely been contributing."
On getting the 24^th win of the season (the most in a single season in his time as Head Coach), "I know that the A-game of this group is pretty good, and 24 wins isn't nothing especially only having nine losses. We've worked really hard to get to a certain point. Right now it almost doesn't matter how many wins we have. We need one more to get through the series."

Up Next

The Orange and Brown will take on the NMU Wildcats for game two of this best-of-three series on Saturday, March 16 at 7:07 PM in the Berry Events Center. Bowling Green would advance with one more win.

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